adults fat, too. And here’s how: BPA can act like the female hormone estrogen, and when it’s out of whack, it can throw off our endocrine system and trigger our fat cells to grow. Look for foods packed in glass jars instead of cans; get veggies fresh or frozen; buy beans from bulk bins. If you must buycanned, try to make sure the label says “BPA-free” before you purchase the product.
MAKE A CLEAN CUT • • 2 POINTS
As we established in Chapter 1 , the quality of the food you eat is critical to cracking Slim for Life . However, when it comes tomeat, it’s not just the quality that matters—the cut of the meat matters too. Even though something may be healthy, it doesn’t mean that it’s low in calories. Here are the slimmest cuts of meat for all you carnivores out there seeking to look svelte:
• Pork —loin chops, sirloin chops, and center loin chops
• Poultry —breasts
• Beef —loin and round cuts, like choice or select sirloin (not prime sirloin). Specific cuts made from sirloin include tri-tip roast, tri-tip steak, and top sirloin steak. (Top sirloin is very lean at 5 grams of fat per 4-ounce serving.)
• Lamb —shank or leg of lamb, lamb chop, and lamb roast
DON’T BE TRICKED BYFOOD MARKETERS
Most of the advice in this book is pretty straightforward, but here’s where it can get confusing: not all processed foods are bad for you. The term processed has a broad definition. It essentially means “prepared for ease of consumption.” Frozen vegetables or 100 percent whole-grain oatmeal are processed foods, and I’d never tell you not to eat them. The way to differentiate the healthy and slimming from the disease-inducing and fattening is to learn what to look for on the labels. That’s what I’m going to show you now: how to decode labels and dodge food-marketing trickery so you never get fooled or confused again.
FOOD LABELS 101
SERVE IT UP • • • 3 POINTS
Many food labels hide the true amount of calories in that food by splitting up servings. For example, if you buy a regular-size bottle of Snapple (which I hope to God you never do), it’s highly unlikely that you planned on sharing it. Common sense dictates that the whole bottle is one serving. The label says it’s 120 calories per serving, which sounds fine. Look more closely at that label, however, and you’ll see that this one bottle is meant to serve 2.5 people. Drink that bottle, and you’ll be swigging down 300 calories. You just drank almost your entire calorie allotment for a meal, without even eating a sandwich. Moral of the story: when you read a food label, always check the number of servings first, then the number of calories per serving. The serving size is the amount you would have to eat to ingest the nutrition shown on the rest of the food label, no more, no less.
KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE • • • 3 POINTS
Buy food with as few ingredients listed on the label as possible. If you’re wondering how many ingredients are too much, keeping them to five and under is a good rule of thumb.
CHECK: ONE, TWO, THREE • • • 3 POINTS
Ingredients are listed in order of their quantity in the food. So the top three ingredients are pretty much all you’re eating. And while you might think something is healthy because it has pomegranate in it (or some other fruit or vegetable), the top three ingredients might also include high-fructose corn syrup, enriched flour, and cornstarch. Don’t be deceived. If the top three ingredients are crap, then the food is crap. Put it back and make a healthier choice.
BE A MATCHMAKER • • • 3 POINTS
SLIM MYTH:
Ingredient lists on food products are designed to inform consumers.
FAST FACT: Ingredient lists are used by food manufacturers to deceive consumers into thinking their products are healthier (or of better quality) than they really are. See all my tips on decoding labels to keep from getting duped.
Have you ever played with a little kid who matches up the
MAKE A CLEAN CUT • • 2 POINTS
As we established in Chapter 1 , the quality of the food you eat is critical to cracking Slim for Life . However, when it comes tomeat, it’s not just the quality that matters—the cut of the meat matters too. Even though something may be healthy, it doesn’t mean that it’s low in calories. Here are the slimmest cuts of meat for all you carnivores out there seeking to look svelte:
• Pork —loin chops, sirloin chops, and center loin chops
• Poultry —breasts
• Beef —loin and round cuts, like choice or select sirloin (not prime sirloin). Specific cuts made from sirloin include tri-tip roast, tri-tip steak, and top sirloin steak. (Top sirloin is very lean at 5 grams of fat per 4-ounce serving.)
• Lamb —shank or leg of lamb, lamb chop, and lamb roast
DON’T BE TRICKED BYFOOD MARKETERS
Most of the advice in this book is pretty straightforward, but here’s where it can get confusing: not all processed foods are bad for you. The term processed has a broad definition. It essentially means “prepared for ease of consumption.” Frozen vegetables or 100 percent whole-grain oatmeal are processed foods, and I’d never tell you not to eat them. The way to differentiate the healthy and slimming from the disease-inducing and fattening is to learn what to look for on the labels. That’s what I’m going to show you now: how to decode labels and dodge food-marketing trickery so you never get fooled or confused again.
FOOD LABELS 101
SERVE IT UP • • • 3 POINTS
Many food labels hide the true amount of calories in that food by splitting up servings. For example, if you buy a regular-size bottle of Snapple (which I hope to God you never do), it’s highly unlikely that you planned on sharing it. Common sense dictates that the whole bottle is one serving. The label says it’s 120 calories per serving, which sounds fine. Look more closely at that label, however, and you’ll see that this one bottle is meant to serve 2.5 people. Drink that bottle, and you’ll be swigging down 300 calories. You just drank almost your entire calorie allotment for a meal, without even eating a sandwich. Moral of the story: when you read a food label, always check the number of servings first, then the number of calories per serving. The serving size is the amount you would have to eat to ingest the nutrition shown on the rest of the food label, no more, no less.
KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE • • • 3 POINTS
Buy food with as few ingredients listed on the label as possible. If you’re wondering how many ingredients are too much, keeping them to five and under is a good rule of thumb.
CHECK: ONE, TWO, THREE • • • 3 POINTS
Ingredients are listed in order of their quantity in the food. So the top three ingredients are pretty much all you’re eating. And while you might think something is healthy because it has pomegranate in it (or some other fruit or vegetable), the top three ingredients might also include high-fructose corn syrup, enriched flour, and cornstarch. Don’t be deceived. If the top three ingredients are crap, then the food is crap. Put it back and make a healthier choice.
BE A MATCHMAKER • • • 3 POINTS
SLIM MYTH:
Ingredient lists on food products are designed to inform consumers.
FAST FACT: Ingredient lists are used by food manufacturers to deceive consumers into thinking their products are healthier (or of better quality) than they really are. See all my tips on decoding labels to keep from getting duped.
Have you ever played with a little kid who matches up the
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